Paul R. Brass

This book, published in 1985, examines the effects of the state, its official ideologies, its structural forms and its specific policies upon the formation of ethnic identity. The formation of ethnic identity is viewed as a process that involves three sets of struggles. One takes place within the ethnic group itself for control over its material and symbolic resources. The second takes place between ethnic groups, as a competition for rights, privileges and available resources. The second takes place between ethnic groups, as a competition for rights, privileges and available resources. The third takes place between the state and the groups that dominate it, on the one hand, and the population that inhabits its territory, on the other hand.

This issue is viewed both from an historical and contemporary political standpoint, and the impact of ethnic issues in a wide range of cultures is assessed in a comparative introduction by Paul R. Brass and studies of Africa (Crawford Young), the Ottoman State (Kemal Karpat), Slovak Nationalism (David W. Paul), Yugoslavia (Paul V. Warwick and Lenard J. Cohen), Spain (Davydd J. Greenwood), Belgium (Maureen Covell), South Africa (Heribert Adam), and Indian Tribal Autonomy and Separatism in the United States (Alvin J. Ziontz).